Cervical human papillomavirus infection and shedding of human immunodeficiency virus in cervicovaginal fluids: a cross-sectional study.

We evaluated the association between human papillomavirus cervical infection and HIV shedding in cervicovaginal lavage fluid (CVL), studying 89 HIV-infected women recruited at the Department of Infectious Diseases of Brescia (Italy). HIV shedding in CVL was found in a similar proportion of women with (30%; 21/70) and without (31.6%; 6/19) cervical human papillomavirus infection. A statistically significant correlation was found between HIV viral load in serum and CVL among the 27 women with detectable HIV in CVL (r = 0.4; P = 0.04). However, women on highly active antiretroviral therapy were more likely to have detectable HIV-RNA in CVL despite negative viremia (80% vs. 8%; P < 0.005).